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Letter from the VPR
Colleagues,
On Saturday, May 3, I attended all three of the Pullman commencement ceremonies. To be honest, I wasn’t looking forward to the 12-hour day. But I walked away rejuvenated by the hope I heard in the commencement speeches and the pure joy on the faces of every graduate. As families, friends, and loved ones poured into Beasley Coliseum, I watched hundreds of people come together, briefly united by their shared hope for what lies ahead. Graduation marks a transition—a move into a new phase—and in those few hours, all eyes are fixed on the future.
At each of the three ceremonies, I listened as Provost Riley-Tillman called graduates to stand: “Would any student who is the first in their family to earn a university degree please stand. Students earning two or more degrees today, please stand. Students graduating through the Global Campus or another WSU campus, please stand. Any student who served in our nation’s armed forces or is a dependent, please stand. Any student who grew up outside the United States, please stand. Any student proud to be a Coug, please stand.”
As the students rose and the crowd erupted in applause, I was reminded why public, land-grant institutions like WSU matter. Access to education and the opportunity to explore new ideas should not be taken for granted. WSU’s mission is grounded in these principles. At a time when the role of higher education and scientific research is being questioned, we must make clear the value of the innovative, impactful work taking place at institutions like ours.
The day before graduation, the National Science Foundation (NSF) announced its intent to cap indirect cost recovery (IDC) on grants at 15 percent. This marks the third federal agency to propose such a change since February. At 4 p.m., I joined over 120 leaders from public and land-grant universities for an emergency Zoom meeting hosted by the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU). Alongside their legal team, we discussed the lawsuit APLU and other national education organizations were preparing—and how we could support it through our collective voice. The focus was on demonstrating the serious harm this cap would inflict on our institutions. By 4 p.m., PDT on Monday, May 5, the APLU along with the AAU and ACE and 13 other institutions, filed suit against the NSF in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.
Indirect costs partially reimburse universities for the real, ongoing costs of conducting research—labs, equipment, IT infrastructure, animal care, compliance systems, research staff and more. If the NSF cap is implemented, we project an annual loss of $3.4 million to WSU. That’s funding we rely on to conduct research that makes a difference.
NSF grants at WSU support a wide spectrum of fundamental and applied research across our system— robotics, artificial intelligence, agricultural engineering, semiconductor technology, wildfire resilience, watershed management, and more. Our researchers are innovating in fields from soil sensing and crop genomics to 3D printed biosensors and cancer-targeting materials. They’re designing robots to harvest crops and strengthening infrastructure to withstand wildfires and protect power systems across the West. These are projects with real-world impact—projects that move knowledge forward and serve the public good in Washington and across the nation.
I’ve presented to numerous audiences over the last few months about these changes, including to the WSU Alumni Association Board. After the graduation ceremonies, their President, Katey Koehn, came up and thanked me for the presentation and told me to watch a recent episode of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver where indirect costs were highlighted. Oliver debunked the assertion that indirect costs take away from research funding; rather, they are an integral part of doing research. When a topic like IDC is on late-night television, it’s clear the stakes are high—and the public is paying attention.
We have the opportunity to amplify the vital role that public research plays in shaping our shared future. Graduation reminded me that our mission is not abstract. It lives in every student who crosses the stage and in every innovation, solution, and impact driven by our faculty’s research. As we face challenges like the NSF’s IDC cap, let’s do what land-grant universities have always done: rise to the occasion, advocate for science, and deliver on our promise to serve the public good.
Kim Christen
Vice President for Research
Federal Updates
New Bridge Grant Opportunity Launched for Scholars Affected by NSFGrant Cancellations
The Spencer Foundation in collaboration with The Kapor Foundation, The William T. Grant Foundation, and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation have developed a rapid response bridge grant opportunity for scholars impacted by NSF Grants cancellation. See RFP here. Deadlines are May 30 and June 13.
Upcoming Events
Stay Informed: Federal Funding Info Session for Public Media
Earlier this month, the White House signaled its intention to ask Congress to “claw back” funding appropriated for public media. This week that tactic appears delayed, and focus has shifted to an Executive Order from the President that aims to block NPR and PBS from receiving federal funding. Join Cara Williams Fry, NWPB general manager, at 4:30, on Wednesday, May 7, and 10 a.m., on Monday, May 12, via Zoom to learn what elimination of federal funding could mean for your station, and to know what can be done now, register for one of our Zoom sessions. Information in each session will be similar, incorporating up-to-date actions and plans.
EFA and the Office of Commercialization Summer Kickoff Social
The WSU Office of Commercialization and the Entrepreneurial Faculty Ambassadors cordially invite you to the Summer Kickoff Social from 5-7 p.m., on Wednesday, May 7, at the Paradise Creek Trailside Taproom in Pullman. Connect with like-minded peers, learn about opportunities on the Palouse and beyond, support innovation and entrepreneurship at WSU. All are welcome to join.
2025 SAN Symposium registration is still open
The Specimen and Data Access Network is excited to announce that the 2025 SAN Symposium registration is still open! The third annual SAN Symposium will be held on Tuesday, June 3, as an all-day virtual event. This event is co-hosted by Fred Hutch and WSU. You can register via the RSVP link here: SAN Symposium RSVP. For further details, visit the SAN website.
Calls for Proposals
Submit your Letter of Intent (LOI) for the Commercialization Gap Fund (CGF) Awards — Due July 18 at 5 p.m.
The Office of Commercialization at WSU in partnership with the Washington Research Foundation (WRF) is now accepting submissions for the 2026 Commercialization Gap Fund (CGF) awards. This program awards up to $50,000 to WSU researchers from across the entire university system who demonstrate how their work will have a significant economic impact on society.
To be considered for this award, interested researchers need to submit a Letter of Intent (LOI) no later than 5 p.m., on Friday, July 18. Visit our Commercialization Gap Fund web page for more details.
Open Access Fund Pilot Project Encourages Publishing in OA Journals
Washington State University Libraries, in partnership with the Office of Research, are starting a pilot open access (OA) fund to support early-career researchers publishing in OA journals, with $25,000 from the Office of the Provost. The fund will increase the visibility and global accessibility of published, peerreviewed research from WSU; provide more equitable access for those who wish to publish in highimpact journals; and complement the Libraries’ efforts to move away from unsustainable, subscriptionbased models of providing access to research. Researchers on any WSU campus or other WSU facility may apply to WSU Libraries for up to $1,000 to support publication of an OA journal article. Applicants should be tenure- or career-track assistant or associate professors or graduate students with limited access to grant funding. For more information and to apply, please see the project web page or contact Joel Cummings, WSU Libraries’ head of collection development.
For Your Information
State Legislature Reaches Operating Budget Agreement, Adjourns
Legislative leaders adjourned the state’s 2025 legislative session after approving an operating budget agreement that hands WSU a $9.9 million blanket reduction to its biennial appropriation and other prescribed cuts as part of a broader plan to address a multi-billion-dollar state budget shortfall.
The agreement doesn’t prescribe how WSU must cut its budget to achieve the $9.9 million in savings, a 1.5% reduction applied to all public colleges and universities. The budget also prescribes cuts to three appropriations made in 2023. It halves funding for the new Murrow News Fellowship and core support for the Ruckelshaus Center provided that year. It eliminates the entire $696,000 appropriation provided to support the College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences Department of Crop and Soil Sciences turfgrass research.
The budget provides $16.8 million in partial funding for cost-of-living adjustments for faculty and professional staff but at a state cost share that is reduced to just 56%, just as previous budget proposals had. The final budget accord does not fund WSU’s collective bargaining agreement with academic student employees or accreditation efforts at the Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine. It funded WSU’s $2.2 million request to continue its Native American scholarship program for another two years. The agreement does not assume an additional tuition increase beyond what is already authorized in state law in fiscal year 2027 as the earlier Senate proposal did. Though bridge grants to provide additional assistance to the neediest students were eliminated, the Washington College Grant has been largely maintained for public institutions, with student eligibility for the maximum award rolled back slightly from 65 percent median family income to 60 percent. The agreement also does not prescribe employee furloughs.
The operating budget agreement now goes to Gov. Bob Ferguson to act on in the weeks to come.